‘Are you all right?’ asked her mother with a tone of concern, upon finding Lana tucked up in bed of her own accord.
‘I thought I’d be good,’ replied Lana, ‘Because I really want to hear more of Sleeping Beauty.’
‘Lana, you know that we said no to that story tonight because of what happened at Grimm’s.’
‘Please!’ begged Lana. ‘I’ve been so good all day since then!’
‘Hmmm…’ said her mother, as if she was in two minds.
‘I even brushed my hair and left my clothes out for the morning.’
Her mother gave a tiny smile. Lana could tell she was winning her over.
‘Pretty please?’ Lana pulled a funny face, and her mother couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘Well, I suppose it can’t really hurt,’ she said. ‘I’ll go and get it. But if you do feel scared you must tell me. I don’t want you having nightmares.’
Lana closed her eyes. A warm excited feeling bubbled up inside her at the thought of finding out what would happen next to Briar Rose. She heard her mother’s footsteps padding down the hall, the sound of a drawer opening, then the same footsteps padding back again.
There was a loud sneeze and Lana opened her eyes to see her mother sitting beside her, holding the big red-leather story book.
‘Dust,’ explained her mother, her eyes watering. ‘Now, where were we?’ she asked, leafing through the pages.
‘Spindles,’ said Lana. ‘The king has just destroyed them.’
‘Ah, yes,’ said her mother. ‘Spindles…’
And this…
Well, this is pretty much what she read her…
True to the king’s word, after the banquet, every spindle in the kingdom was destroyed. The very act of spinning itself was declared illegal.
And with no spindles for Briar Rose to prick her finger on, the king and queen stopped worrying about the thirteenth fairy’s curse, and life went back to normal. The king took up archery again and the queen got back into wild swimming.
So it was that on her fifteenth birthday, while the servants prepared her birthday lunch, and the king and queen were out pursuing their hobbies, Briar Rose decided to explore the palace. After wandering through the gardens, and browsing the books in the library, she spotted a spiral stone staircase that she had never seen before.
Briar Rose climbed up and up, round and round, until she reached a locked door. Sitting in the lock was a rusty old key. She turned it, and found herself in a tiny room in a turret of the castle.
At the far side of the room, sitting with her back to the door was an old woman. She was working away at something, but Briar Rose couldn’t quite see what.
‘Hello?’ said Briar Rose, but the old woman didn’t seem to hear her.
‘Excuse me?’ said Briar Rose, reaching out to touch the old lady’s shoulder. The old lady froze, as if in shock. Then slowly she turned, and the princess was alarmed to see that her eyes were ruby red.
‘Forgive me,’ said the old woman. ‘I was so busy in my work I didn’t hear you come in.’
‘What are you doing?’ asked Briar Rose.
‘Why, don’t you know what this is?’ asked the old woman, with a mischievous grin. As she spoke, she held up a pointed stick, wound with thread.
Briar Rose shook her head.
‘It’s a spindle, my dear. Watch.’
Briar Rose watched, spellbound, as the old woman unravelled the cocoon of a silk worm, spinning it into thread with the spindle.
The thread shimmered in the light, and looked so beautiful, that Briar Rose wanted nothing more than to press it to her cheek.
‘Here, child, come, sit beside me and spin,’ the old woman said.
Briar Rose sat and the old woman handed her the spindle. But the instant Briar Rose took hold if it, she pricked herself.
‘Oh,’ said Briar Rose, as a single drop of blood appeared on the end of her finger. And she slumped off the chair, onto the floor, falling into a deep sleep.
At that very moment, the king and queen stepped inside the front door of the castle, and they also fell into a deep sleep, right there in the hallway. The pages and footmen fell asleep. The cook fell asleep and the kitchen boy did too. The mice in the kitchen fell asleep, the servants fell asleep and so did all the guests that had just arrived for the banquet.
Just as the twelfth fairy had promised, a giant hedge of thorns immediately sprouted around the entire palace, growing tall and thick to protect everyone inside. Soon the hedge was so high that the palace was hidden entirely from view, even its highest turret, where Briar Rose lay sleeping.
‘I saw her,’ blurted Lana.
‘Saw who, darling?’
‘Briar Rose. Today, in the supermarket.’
‘Oh, how exciting,’ said her mother, playing along. ‘Was she with Rumpelstiltskin?’
‘Mum, I’m not joking. I was in the story! There’s a trapdoor,’ said Lana, unable to stop herself. ‘In the pick ’n’ mix. That little old man pushed me into it, and I ended up in the palace. And everyone was asleep! That’s where I was when Dad thought I had gone missing.’
‘Right,’ said her mother decisively, and closed the book. ‘I think that’s enough of that.’
‘But you haven’t finished the chapter.’
‘No, and I’m not going to. I knew these stories were too scary.’
‘But it’s true!’
‘That’s enough, Lana,’ said her mother firmly, and turned out the light. ‘This book is going away for good.’
Chapter Seven
Having the book of fairytales taken away was very upsetting. The following morning at breakfast, Lana hardly said a word. It had taken her ages to go to sleep, as she couldn’t stop thinking about Briar Rose. The thirteenth fairy had tricked Briar Rose once, but what if she did it again? What if she found a way to stop the princess waking up, even after one hundred years? Lana had to go back to the castle – she had to help Briar Rose and make sure the curse was broken.
‘Cheer up,’ said her father, as he tucked into his apricot jam on toast. ‘It’s pocket-money day! That usually puts a smile on your face.’
Harrison’s ears pricked up. He lowered his book on Archimedes and looked around the table as if he was seeing everyone for the first time.
‘Pocket-money day?’ he echoed.
‘I know, Harrison. Why don’t we go to the new supermarket?’ Lana suggested, trying not to give anything away in her voice. ‘There are so many fun things there.’
‘Like what?’ asked Harrison.
‘Sweets,’ said Lana. ‘More sweets than you have ever seen in your life. You’ll love it.’
‘The supermarket again?’ asked their mother, wiping her feet on the mat at the back door. She had just been to feed the chickens. She glanced at Lana. ‘I thought you said supermarkets were boring?’
‘Mostly they are,’ said Lana. ‘But Grimm’s… Grimm’s is different. Besides, Harrison and I need to spend our pocket money!’
‘Okay. If Harrison goes too, you can both walk there. It’s not far and the fresh air will do you good,’ said her mother with a smile.